Privacy Policy

The Simmer Test is a kitchen product review site. We test products by cooking with them and publish our findings. This privacy policy explains what information we collect when you visit, how we use it, and what choices you have.

We’ve written this in plain language because we think you deserve to understand what’s happening with your information without needing a law degree. If something is unclear, contact us and we’ll explain it.

By using this site, you agree to the practices described in this policy. If you don’t agree, please stop using the site — we understand, no hard feelings.

We collect information in two ways: information you give us directly, and information collected automatically when you use the site.

Information you give us directly:

• Email address — if you subscribe to our newsletter or contact us through the contact form.
• Name and message — if you submit a contact form. We use this to respond to you.

Information collected automatically:

• IP address — used to approximate your general location (country/region) and detect abuse. We do not log individual IP addresses for tracking purposes.
• Browser and device type — used to ensure the site renders correctly on your device.
• Pages visited and time on site — collected via analytics tools to understand which content is useful. See the Analytics section for details.
• Referring URL — the page you came from, if any. Used to understand how people find us.

We do not collect payment information. We do not build individual user profiles. We do not sell your data.

We use the information we collect for the following purposes only:

• To send you the newsletter you signed up for (only if you subscribed)
• To respond to your contact form submissions
• To understand which content is useful and improve the site
• To detect and prevent abuse or spam
• To ensure the site works correctly on your device and browser

We will never use your email address to send you marketing unrelated to The Simmer Test. We will never sell or rent your email address or any other personal information to third parties. We will never contact you on behalf of advertisers or manufacturers.

This is how the site earns revenue. The affiliate commission does not influence our reviews. Every product we recommend was purchased at full retail price and tested for a minimum of 90 days before we published anything. We have also published negative findings on products that have active affiliate programs — the commission does not change the verdict.

We may also participate in affiliate programs with other retailers. In every case, affiliate links are present only for products we have genuinely tested and found worth recommending. We will never add an affiliate link to a product we wouldn’t tell a friend to buy.

In compliance with the FTC’s guidelines on endorsements and testimonials, all affiliate relationships on this site are disclosed. When a link is an affiliate link, you are clicking it with full knowledge of the relationship.

We use cookies — small text files stored on your device — for the following purposes:

• Analytics cookies — to understand how visitors use the site. See the Analytics section.
• Preference cookies — to remember preferences you’ve set, such as whether you’ve dismissed a notice.
• Session cookies — temporary cookies that expire when you close your browser. Used for basic site functionality.

We do not use advertising cookies, tracking pixels, or cross-site tracking.

You can control cookies through your browser settings. Disabling cookies may affect how some parts of the site function, but the content itself will remain fully accessible.

We use the following third-party services on this site. Each has its own privacy policy:

• Amazon Associates — affiliate program. Amazon may set cookies when you click our product links. See Amazon’s Privacy Notice.
• Google Analytics (or similar) — web analytics. See the Analytics section.
• Google Fonts — fonts loaded from Google’s servers. Google may log your IP address when fonts are requested. See Google’s Privacy Policy.
• Email service provider — used to send newsletters. Your email address is stored with this provider under a data processing agreement.

We do not share your personal information with any third party except as described above or as required by law.

We use web analytics to understand how the site is used. The analytics data tells us things like: which review pages are most visited, how long people spend reading, what devices they use, and which countries they’re in.

This data is aggregated — it tells us about overall patterns, not about individual people. We do not use analytics data to identify individuals.

If you prefer not to be tracked by analytics, you can:

• Use a browser extension that blocks analytics tracking
• Enable the “Do Not Track” setting in your browser (we honor this signal)
• Use a privacy-focused browser or VPN

The site functions fully without analytics cookies. Blocking them will not affect your experience of the content.

If you subscribe to the newsletter, we will use your email address to send you:

• New review announcements when they’re published (which is infrequent — we only publish when a product has been through the full 90-day test)
• Seasonal kitchen guides and buying guides we’ve written
• Occasional deal alerts for products we’ve actually tested and recommend

We will not send you daily emails, affiliate padding, “10 best” lists we haven’t personally tested, or anything written by someone other than the Simmer Test team.

You can unsubscribe at any time using the link at the bottom of every email. After unsubscribing, your email address will be removed from our sending list within 10 business days. We retain your address in a suppression list to ensure we don’t accidentally re-add you.

If you want your email address deleted entirely from our systems, contact us and we’ll take care of it within 30 days.

Depending on where you live, you may have specific rights regarding your personal information. Regardless of your location, we honor the following:

• Access — you can ask what personal information we hold about you.
• Correction — you can ask us to correct inaccurate information.
• Deletion — you can ask us to delete your personal information. We’ll do it.
• Portability — you can ask for a copy of your personal data in a common format.
• Opt-out — you can opt out of any communication from us at any time.

If you’re in the European Union or UK, you have additional rights under GDPR/UK GDPR, including the right to object to processing and the right to lodge a complaint with a supervisory authority.

If you’re in California, you have rights under CCPA/CPRA. We do not sell personal information, and we do not share it for cross-context behavioral advertising.

To exercise any of these rights, contact us. We will respond within 30 days.

The Simmer Test is not directed at children under 13 years of age. We do not knowingly collect personal information from children under 13. If we learn we have collected personal information from a child under 13, we will delete it immediately.

If you believe we have collected information from a child under 13, please contact us immediately.

If you have questions about this privacy policy or about how we handle your data, contact us here. We’ll respond in plain language, not corporate boilerplate.

This policy was last updated in May 2026. We’ll update it if our practices change in any meaningful way, and we’ll note the date of the update at the top of the page.